Two Days of Temptation by Evie North

As Hannah approaches the imposing gates of Youlden Manor, she keeps reminding herself of why she is about to give her body to the master of the house. Two years ago, Lord Sebastian Youlden wronged her and their unborn child, and she cannot resume her life until she wreaks revenge.

When Sebastian awoke weeks after a duel that stole his sight, he discovered he’d lost something else—the woman he loved. Grief-stricken, he retreated to his isolated estate, where he occasionally sends for women from the local inn to temporarily assuage his loneliness. Yet there is something strangely compelling about the latest lady of the night who comes to pleasure him.

The first time they come together, Hannah’s icy resolve begins to melt in the heat of his bed. As passion begins to burn away the veil of secrecy between them—and gradually lift the blindness from Sebastian’s eyes—the only thing left standing between them and a love that never died is the naked, painful truth.

Reviewed by Vikki

I have been a tad disappointed with some of the historical romances I have read recently, but I was pleasantly surprised by Two Days of Temptation, which intrigued me from the first page and kept me that way until the end. Ms North is an outstanding storyteller whose writing is filled with deep emotion, which is of utmost importance for me. I want to feel what the characters are experiencing, and did. The passion between the hero and the heroine is enough to burn the pages.

Hannah arrives at Lord Youlden’s estate in Yorkshire, determined to confront the man who had betrayed her two years before. As she sits in the nearby coaching inn, she overhears a conversation regarding the lord of the manor, and how he will be sending his manservant down to procure a whore for him.

When the man shows up, Hannah agrees to go with him in order to gain entry to the manor, where she plans to wring an apology from her former lover for the wrong he had perpetrated against her when he left her alone and with child.
Sebastian, Lord Youlden, is blind and lives as a recluse on the Yorkshire moors. When his manservant returns from the village with a young woman named Janet, the strength of the pull he feels when he hears her speak astounds him. Something tells him he has met her before, but then he brushes it off, just thankful for the overwhelming attraction he feels for her.

What he expects is his usual needs-driven coupling with a whore brought for his pleasure. What he finds is an enchantress who taunts him with images of the woman he had unintentionally left and later found out had died. Could this possibly be his Hannah?

This sets up an emotionally charged tale of love lost through betrayal and lies. Hannah and Sebastian fight to overcome the scars from their past. She must come to terms with his abandonment, and he must deal with the consequences of his actions. Ms. North does this through deep emotion and plenty of passion.

This is a dark story in many ways. Sebastian is a tortured soul, my favorite kind of hero, filled with angst and self-loathing. Hannah is a woman determined to exact her revenge on the man who betrayed her and her unborn child.
Evie North is excellent at holding her cards close to her chest, trickling in just enough backstory to keep me wanting more and wondering about what had happened to drive the couple apart. While this is by no means a mystery, it does have plenty of intrigue.

On the downside, however, Ms. North’s writing is a bit repetitive at times. I noticed the same phrase repeated within the same paragraph, although it wasn’t enough to be a serious distraction. Also, the way she switches from one point of view to the other are somewhat abrupt. I would be reading along in Hannah’s PoV, and in the next paragraph, it would be in Sebastian’s. I found myself backtracking and re-reading passages to make sure of the PoV. These minor issues would have been easily corrected by simply adding a space between the changes. That would have made it easier for me, giving me warning that a change is getting ready to happen.

Even with these few issues, I truly loved this book and was so glad when Hannah and Sebastian achieved their HEA. This is the second book in The Brothers Mortmain series, and I highly recommend it. I will definitely be reading the first book as soon as I can download it.

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